Tomorrow
by RogueRavenclaw99
Summary: A story of life after the Locust War that follows the Fenix family leading up to the events of Gears of War 4.
1. Starting

Ch. 1: Starting

**Hello, everybody! My name is RogueRavenclaw99 and today I present to you my very first **_**Gears of War **_**fanfiction! **

**I got into Gears of War thanks to my dad, and I've been reading quite a few fanfictions, so I decided to write my own. **

**This is the story of Anya and Marcus after the war, mainly during the time JD grew up. There isn't a lot of pre-established story centering around this topic, so here's my take on it. Anyway, enough rambling. On to the story! **

Marcus Fenix grumbled as he opened his eyes. One of his arms was under his head and the other was around the waist of Anya Stroud.

He couldn't believe he was here. Just less than a year ago, he had been constantly sleep deprived and fighting Locust and Lambent monsters. Now, he was able to sleep peacefully with the woman he loved.

As Marcus blinked the sleep out of his eyes, he glanced at Anya, who was curled into a ball, cuddled close to Marcus' warm body.

Anya opened her green eyes and stared into Marcus' beautiful blue ones. "How are you enjoying your tomorrow, Marcus?" she asked him sleepily.

"I like it a lot Anya," Marcus said in his rough voice.

* * *

"Bye Marcus," Anya said, looking up and kissing Marcus on the cheek.

Marcus said nothing but grunted as Anya drove away in their truck. He hated her being away from him for even a minute but Anya insisted that she needed to spend some 'girl time' with Sam, so she was going to drive to where Sam was currently living with Baird.

As Anya drove away, Marcus looked around their estate. Society was still rebuilding from the war, and most people had no place to go. The COG were still attempting to gather

Stranded and other civilians, but Marcus didn't want to live there. As a result, he and Anya had moved into Anya's family's estate.

Marcus went back into the main house and saw an old bag hanging from a chair. He dug through the bag and found a plastic bag full of seeds and a piece of paper.

Marcus pulled out the piece of paper and sighed. The paper read, _Dom's tomatoes. No one better touch these. _

Marcus took the bag of seeds and walked to the greenhouse. He grabbed a couple of pots and set to work.

**Really short chapter by my expectations, but this is just a setup chapter.**


	2. New Addition

Ch. 2: New Addition

**Okay, so I'm going to try and get a new chapter out for this story every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My apologies if I don't manage to get a chapter out in time.**

Once Anya got back, she had a big smile on her face. She walked into the main house and shouted, "Marcus?!"

When there was no response, she shouted again, "Marcus?!"

She then left the main house and looked around. She saw the lights in the greenhouse were on, so she walked over to there.

She saw Marcus, standing in front of about twenty pots. "What are you growing?" she asked.

Marcus turned around suddenly. "Didn't hear you come home," he said. "I'm growing tomatoes. We have a bag of his old seeds."

Anya did not need to ask who 'he' was. "You okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but he just...I knew he wasn't in a right place. And he did save us. But I still…"

"Miss him," Anya finished. "I get it. But I do have some exciting news for you."

"What is it?"

"Why don't we go to the main house?"

Marcus looked at her curiously, but shrugged as he followed her.

Once they were in the main house, Marcus sat down in the chair he claimed as 'his' and looked at Anya.

"I've been feeling a little strange for the past two weeks," she told him.

Marcus immediately got up and grabbed her. "Are you okay?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"I couldn't be better Marcus. We're one step closer to repopulating Sera."

"What do you..?" Marcus trailed off as he figured out what she was saying. "You mean..?"

Anya nodded her head, get smile getting bigger. "I'm pregnant, Marcus."

Marcus went silent for a moment, and Anya stared at him, confused. He then picked her up and laughed. "That's amazing!" he exclaimed. He then remembered something and said, "But I thought they said it was impossible."

"They did. And it was. I was barren, but your father changed that. The Lambent cells in my body caused me to be barren, but your father's bomb changed that. We're going to have a baby, Marcus!"

"I can't believe it! This seems like a dream! This is amazing Anya!"

Anya laughed, not remembering a time when the grumpy gear was this happy or enthusiastic. "Glad you're happy Marcus," she said.

* * *

Nine months later, Marcus was running around the estate. "Anya?!" he yelled. "Anya, where are you?!"

Anya came out of the smaller house and said, "I'm right here Marcus. We're both okay." She patted her stomach in reassurance.

"You know I hate you being away from me! What about the baby?!" Marcus had become even more protective of Anya when he found out she was pregnant, and he absolutely refused to let her out of his sight.

"We're both still fine Marcus, I promise."

"Alright, then. Come on. Let's get back to the main house."

Marcus bent down and picked up Anya, and she glared at him. "Marcus, I don't need you to carry me. I'm fine. Both me and the baby are fine."

"Not risking it Anya."

She marveled at how he was able to carry her at this time, because she had gained a lot more weight with the baby, but then she remembered that Marcus could easily pick up a two hundred pound Locust soldier, so him being able to pick her up was nothing.

Marcus opened the door to the house and Anya gasped as she heard people shouting, "Surprise!"

Marcus half-smiled as he set Anya down. All of their friends were in the main house, most of them holding presents. "Happy baby shower love," Sam said, hugging Anya.

Anya laughed and looked at Marcus. "Did you plan this?" she asked.

"Nope. That was all Sam."

"Come on!" Cole exclaimed. "Let's get to the cake! Whoo!"

"Slow your roll there Cole," Sam said. "First, we open presents, and then we get to the food."

Anya sat down in Marcus' chair, and Marcus glared at her. She innocently rubbed her stomach, so he sat down in a chair next to her, quietly grumbling. "Here you go," Cole said, handing Anya a box wrapped with faded gray paper.

Anya removed the wrapping and pulled out a giant brown ball. "Is that a..?" Baird started.

"Yeah, it's a thrashball," Cole said. "Kids should start playing sports at a young age, like I did!"

Anya smiled and said, "It's perfect Cole. Thank you."

"Here you go Anya," Clayton Carmine said, handing her a box with faded blue wrapping paper. Anya opened the present and laughed at what was inside.

Inside of the box was an action figure that looked like a Gear soldier in full armor. Carmine said, "My brothers and I used to love these things when we were younger."

Anya looked at the doll and said, "Thank you very much Carmine."

Sam then handed Anya her present, which had faded pink wrapping paper. "Here you go love," Sam said.

Anya opened the present and pulled out several onesies in different colors. "Wasn't sure whether your baby was going to be a boy or a girl, so I got all different colors," Sam said.

"What is the baby going to be?" Carmine asked.

"We're not sure," Marcus said.

"We wanted to keep it a surprise," Anya said. "Plus, we don't really have doctors. We still have the medics from the war, but they're all wherever the COG are relocating people to."

"Alright, my turn," Baird said. "Whatever you guys got is going to be nothing compared to my gift."

Anya chuckled at Baird's remark as she took the box with faded brown wrapping paper from the mechanic's hands. Anya grabbed out a teddy bear from the box, and Carmine remarked, "That's it? A teddy bear? That's supposed to be the gift that blows ours away?"

"Oh no," Baird said. "That gift was just a distraction. Here's the real gift."

The door to the room opened and a JACK bot flew into the room. "JACK?" Marcus asked.

"Not exactly," Baird said. "This is kind of a special version of JACK. It's able to tell why your baby is crying and tell you how to calm it down."

"That is amazing Baird!" Anya exclaimed. "How did you even make something like this?"

"Well, without having to worry about Locust and Lambent, I've had quite a bit of free time. I'm even thinking of starting my own business."

Anya laughed as the bot circled around her and beeped happily. "Thank you everybody for the gifts," she said happily.

"Now let's get to that cake!" Cole exclaimed before adding another, "Whoo!"

Right as Cole shouted, Anya yelled too and grabbed her bulging stomach. "What happened?!" Marcus yelled, running to Anya's side.

"Marcus," Anya said. "It's time."

"You mean..?"

Anya nodded before inhaling sharply. "The baby's coming."


	3. Delivery

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked.

"Pretty sure Marcus!" Anya exclaimed, gasping in pain and clenching her stomach.

"Just breath Anya," Sam said gently. She looked at Marcus and said, "Marcus, help me get her to a bed."

Marcus nodded and carried Anya into one of their guest rooms. "Cole, can you get me a hot towel?" Sam asked Cole.

"Sure thing Sam," Cole said, running out of the room.

Sam looked at Anya and said, "Alright, honey, you're going to be just fine. You need to relax. Can you do that?"

Anya nodded and screamed in pain, crushing Marcus' giant hand in her small one. Cole returned with the hot towel, and Sam gently placed it on Anya's forehead. "That feel better?" she asked.

Anya nodded, inhaling sharply again. "How do you know what you're doing?" Carmine asked Sam.

"I'm trained to be an emergency medic if the case need be," Sam explained. "And I think the case need be. Now Carmine, get me some ice chips for her."

Anya screamed again, gripping Marcus' hand even tighter. "You're doing great Anya," Marcus told her reassuringly.

"This hurts more than being shot!" she shouted at him through her teeth.

"I know it hurts honey, but it'll be over soon," Sam said, looking at Anya closely. "I think you're ready now. Now push!"

Anya pushed again, practically breaking Marcus' hand with her tight grip. After that push, she let go of Marcus, who shook his hand a little. "It'll be alright Anya," Marcus said. "Sam knows what she's doing, right?"

"Of course I do. Now you need to keep breathing. That is the most important thing right now, alright Anya? Just keep breathing. In out, in out, in out. Got it?"

Anya nodded and continued her breathing, shouting a slew of curse words in the process. "Never heard you talk like that before Anya," Baird said sarcastically. "I mean, maybe Marcus, but never you."

"Shut up and get out!" Anya yelled at the mechanic. Baird stood there, mouth agape, but then did as she said and walked away.

Carmine returned with the ice chips and Sam grabbed a couple. "Do you want some honey?" she asked Anya kindly.

Anya nodded and gladly accepted the ice chips. Carmine left the room to go talk to Baird and Cole, and Anya screamed in pain again. "Come on Anya, just a few more!" Sam exclaimed.

Anya pushed again and yelled louder, gripping Marcus' other hand. "You've got this Anya," Marcus told his love. "Just a little bit longer. You can do this."

"It hurts so much Marcus," Anya said.

"I know it does. But you've got this. I know you can do this. You are Anya Stroud. You are a confident, brave woman and I know you can do this. Now push!"

Anya pushed again and shouted once more, and Sam said, "Come on, I can see the kid's head! One more push!"

Anya yelled loud enough for the yell to be echoed around the whole house.

* * *

The other men ran back to the room once they heard the final yell, but stopped when they heard a baby cry. Baird cautiously opened the door, and they all gasped. Anya was sitting up in the bed, holding a baby with brown hair wrapped in a white towel. "It's a boy," she said happily.

They all crowded around the bed, with Marcus next to Anya and the baby, his arm around her.

Anya gave Marcus the baby, and he looked at her unsure. "You'll be fine," she said, "But be very careful. He is sleeping after all."

Marcus carefully held his son in his arms and showed the baby to the Gears. "What's his name?" Carmine asked.

"James," Anya said happily.

"James Dominic Fenix," Marcus said.

All of the group, minus Anya, gasped at this name choice, honoring their fallen Gear and friend.

The men all looked at James, and Cole smiled. "He is so small," he said in a hushed voice.

James then opened his eyes and revealed they were the same shade of blue as Marcus'. James looked up at the men staring at him and started to fuss, so Marcus handed him back to Anya. Cole leaned forward and waved his index and middle finger in the baby's face.

James giggled and grabbed Cole's fingers, and Cole laughed, pulling his fingers away. "This kid has one hell of a grip," Cole remarked.

The baby giggled, and Marcus said, "You are going to cause a lot of trouble one day. I know it. And I'll be there with you for it."


	4. Trouble at a Young Age

Anya rolled over in bed and expected to feel Marcus' warm body, but instead felt the cold sheets. She sat up in bed and smiled, knowing where he was at this time of night, same as every other night for the last week.

Anya got up and walked next door to the nursery, and sure enough, saw Marcus standing next to the crib. She quietly walked over to him and said, "You know he's not going anywhere, right?"

Marcus turned around and said, "Yeah, but I just wanted to be sure. I can't help it. You two are driving me crazy."

Anya leaned forward and the two of them kissed. Once they were done, Marcus looked back at James and said, "But it's all worth it."

* * *

About six months later, Marcus jumped in bed as James started crying. "Your turn," Anya said groggily. Marcus groaned and looked at their clock, seeing that it was already the seventh hour of the day.

He got up from bed and walked to the nursery. The JACK bot flew out of the room and in front of Marcus, with the word _hunger_ written on it's screen. "I could figure that out for myself," Marcus grumbled.

Marcus groaned as he bent down and picked James up from the crib. He carried James in one arm, shushing him as they both went into the kitchen. Marcus grabbed a bottle from the fridge and put it in a pot of hot water to heat it up. In the meantime, he sat in a chair, shushing the still crying James.

Once the bottle was warmed, James stopped crying as he drank the formula. Anya walked into the kitchen and kissed Marcus on the cheek. She ruffled James' hair, and James giggled at her. "That JACK bot drives me nuts sometimes," Marcus said. "I think that's the real reason Baird gave it to us. To make me go insane."

Anya chuckled and grabbed James from Marcus, who had finished his bottle and continued crying. The JACK bot flew around Anya's head, with the word _gas_ on it's screen.

Anya patted James on his back until he let out an innocent burp. Once he burped, James stopped crying and started giggling.

Anya set James down on the ground, where he started to crawl towards Marcus' feet. Marcus bent over and picked up his son, and James giggled as Marcus swung him around.

Anya smiled at them and said, "I'm going to go read a book."

"Sounds good," Marcus said. "I'll stay with James."

"Are you sure? You didn't have that much sleep last night. I could watch him and read if you want."

"We're fine. Now go relax."

* * *

A few hours later, Marcus jumped out of his chair suddenly. He had accidentally fallen asleep and immediately jumped to his feet. "James?" he asked, looking at the ground where James had been playing.

Marcus gasped when James wasn't there, and he ran around the house yelling, "James?!"

"What happened?!" Anya asked, rushing out of their book room.

"I fell asleep and James is gone! Help me find him!"

Anya and Marcus then both ran around the main house shouting, "James?!"

Marcus ran to the room where he and Anya kept their old armor and gasped. James was sitting on the ground, surrounded by ammo.

Marcus moved forward to pick up James, but James pulled out a Snub pistol, and Marcus stepped back. "Easy James," Marcus said. "Be careful with that thing."

James looked at his father and giggled as he put the grip in his mouth, frightening Marcus greatly.

Anya ran into the room and saw James sitting on the floor. "Why haven't you grabbed him?" she asked Marcus.

Rather than respond, Marcus pointed to the Snub, and Anya gasped. She carefully stepped towards James, and Marcus said, "Anya, be careful."

Anya slowly bent down to pick up James, and he set down the pistol and reached his arms up to his mother. Anya sighed in relief as she picked her son up and smoothed his hair. "Don't you ever scare us like that again," she told James.

Marcus walked into the room with her and picked up the pistol, putting it back up on the wall. "You scared the crap out of your mother and me," Marcus said to James.

"Marcus, watch your mouth," Anya told him. "No swearing in front of James, okay? And we need to make a more secure door for that room."

Marcus nodded as James giggled at what his father had said. "This kid will be the death of me someday," Marcus said, smiling.

**Oh Marcus, you have no idea. **


	5. Windflares

**Time skip time! This time it'll be about three years into the future, which would make JD 3 ½ years old. **

"See you guys later," Marcus said as Baird, Cole, and Sam all got into a truck. The three of them had been visiting the family and were about to leave.

James ran out to the house, pumping his little arms. He jumped into his father's arms, and Marcus caught him with a grunt. "Can you say goodbye to Aunt Sam and Uncle Baird and Uncle Cole James?" Anya asked him.

"Bye bye!" James exclaimed, waving at his aunt and uncles.

"Bye James," Sam said, starting up the car.

"Be careful on your way home," Anya told her. "I heard there might be something weird with the weather tonight."

"We'll keep that in mind," Baird said.

Once the truck was out of sight, Marcus set James back down, and he said, "Play!"

"Not now James," Anya said. "We need to be ready for the storm. Can you help Mommy and Daddy get ready?"

James nodded and ran back into the house. Marcus smiled at him and asked, "Where does he get all that energy?"

"Probably from his father."

"I think he got it from both of us." Marcus then surprised Anya by pulling her in for a kiss. She did not object, and they stood together for a solid minute before breaking apart.

"We better go make sure James doesn't completely destroy the house," Anya said. Marcus chuckled as they both walked back to the main house.

* * *

Once everything was prepared for the storm, Anya and Marcus tucked James into bed. "What about storm?" James asked.

"The storm will be happening while you're asleep James," Anya said reassuringly.

"And your mom and I will be safe in the living room," Marcus said, ruffling his son's hair.

James giggled as Anya leaned forward to kiss James on the forehead. She pulled the sheets over him as Marcus kissed James too. "Tickles," he said, pointing to Marcus' soul patch.

Marcus leaned away as James yawned and closed his eyes. He and Anya left the room lightning struck in the distance. "Wonder what's causing the weather?" Anya asked Marcus.

"The COG blames atmospheric distortion," Marcus replied to her.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Not for a damn minute. Who knows why the weather is insane?"

Thunder could be heard and more lightning struck, this time closer. Marcus closed his eyes and winced, the sounds reminding him of bullets fired, aiming to end his life. "You okay Marcus?" Anya asked.

"Yeah, just having some flashbacks. I'm alright."

Lightning struck for a third time, this time actually in the estate, hitting a tree. "That was one of our nicest trees," Anya remarked, looking out the window.

"I'll replant it next week Anya. Better than ever."

As soon as the tree hit the ground, a scream could be heard through the house as James ran out of his room and into his father's arms, sobbing. "You okay James?" Marcus said, setting his son on the ground.

"Scared," James said between sobs. Anya got down on her knees and hugged James, who gladly sobbed into his mother's chest.

"My brave little soldier," Anya said, stroking James' hair. "Mommy and Daddy will always be there for you, okay?"

James sniffled and nodded his head. "The noise reminds me of something that happened when I was in prison," Marcus said.

James gasped and sat down in front of his father, eagerly awaiting the story. Anya listened too, knowing that Marcus didn't like to talk about life in prison that much. "A few of the prisoners saw that there were things that looked like spiders crawling out of the toilets. I killed the things and saw they were baby Corpsers, meaning that Locust were starting to invade the prison. Seeing how I was the only one with hands on experience with the Locust, I took command of the prisoners and the guards, showing them how to defend themselves.

"I went into the Control room to tell the situation, and your mother told a friend of mine to say that she loved me."

Anya smiled, remembering passing that message on. "I remember he said you loved me too," she told him.

"Yeah, but I never told him to tell you that. Anyway, I helped defend the prison from baby Corpsers and Wretches, and managed to get the prisoners and guards into a safer part of the prison. Another friend and I found out where the Locust were coming from, but we were trapped. My friend locked me in a cell and ran."

"What happened to your friend?" Anya asked.

"Don't know. Never saw him again. Dom came and got me and you know the rest."

Marcus looked down and saw that James had fallen asleep again, and Anya smiled. Marcus lifted James up and tucked him into bed again, kissing the three year old on the forehead. "Goodnight my little Gear," Marcus whispered to James.

**FYI, I got most the summary for that story from Marcus' wiki if you want to read the full story. The real story is from **_**Gears of War:The Slab**_**, the fifth book in the series of chapter books that came out. And yes, that storm was in fact a Windflare, but not quite as bad as the ones from 4 yet. Also, as a heads-up, I'm going out of town for pretty much all of next week and I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload new chapters. I'll try my best, but I'm sorry if the chapters end up getting delayed.**


	6. Planting

**Managed to get some alone time with my laptop so I could post this chapter. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to get the Wednesday and Friday updates out though, so please bear with me.**

The next day, Marcus drove out to get a new tree to plant in the yard. James stayed home with his mother, and they were both cleaning up the damage from the storm.

When the truck pulled up, James shouted, "Daddy's back! Daddy's back! Daddy's back!"

Anya chuckled as James ran to the truck and jumped in Marcus' arms. "Daddy!"" James exclaimed, hugging his father.

"Alright James," Marcus said, setting his son down. "Go to your mom. I've got some work to do."

"I wanna help!" James exclaimed.

"You can help later, okay? Now go to your mom."

James ran back to his mother as Marcus grabbed a shovel from the greenhouse. Marcus tied a bandana around his forehead as he carried the old tree across the property.

After that, he started digging a new hole for the tree to be in. He looked over at James and Anya, who smiled at him.

Once the hole was of sizable depth, he easily lifted the tree. Once he lifted it, Anya whispered something inaudible to James, and she gave him a light shove in the back as he ran to his father, smiling.

Marcus put the tree in the hole and saw James running towards him. "Hang on a second James," Marcus said.

James sat in front of the tree as Marcus pulled out an old commando knife. He used the knife to write the letters _JDF_ in the tree.

Anya walked up to them and saw the knife. "Is that…?" she started.

"Yeah," Marcus interrupted. "It's Dom's knife."

"Who that?" James asked.

"Dom was my best friend. He sacrificed himself so your mother and I could live and have you."

Marcus then picked up James, and they both smiled at the tree. "Good job Marcus," Anya said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Ew!" James exclaimed.

"You think kissing is gross James? Well come here!"

Marcus gave James to Anya, who proceeded to attack her son with kisses while he screamed.

Marcus looked at his son and love, then back to the tree, and finally at the knife. "Yeah, good job," Marcus told himself.

**Yes, the tree planting thing was from the **_**Tomorrow **_**trailer, but I couldn't help myself. I love that trailer so much, and here is a telling of just the family side of things. Plus, I mean, come on. Have you seen the title of this story? **


	7. New Ephyra Boarding School

**Another time skip, this time 2 ½ years into the future, making James 6 years old.**

"I don't want to go!" James yelled, running back into the main house. Marcus sighed and ran after his son, knowing that he would catch up.

When Marcus caught James, he carried him out to the truck and strapped him in. "I don't want to go!" James yelled again, trying to escape the truck.

"For the last time James," Marcus said. "You're going to go to boarding school and you will get a good education. This is a school for gifted kids, and you got in. Now let's go!"

"But I don't want to be away from you Daddy!"

Marcus softened for a minute, because James knew that whenever he said 'Daddy', Marcus would do whatever he said. Marcus shook his head and said, "Don't you use any of that 'Daddy' stuff on me James. You're going to this boarding school."

Anya walked out of the house slowly and got into the car on the passenger side. She turned around and asked James, "Are you excited for school James?"

"No! I don't want to go!" James yelled. Marcus ignored his son and started up the car. They drove to where the COG had made the school, in the walled New Ephyra, where citizens lived for the time being.

They parked their truck outside of the city, where a robot held out his hand for the keys. "What the hell?" Marcus asked.

"Marcus!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

Baird came up next to the robot and said, "Isn't she a beauty?"

"What is it?" Anya asked.

"I call 'em DeeBees. I'm the maker and CEO of the company that produces these things, DB Industries."

"Your ego never was small, was it?" Marcus questioned. "These things look like they could do some damage."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, these things are made for work that could be seen as dangerous for a person, to reduce the amount of deaths taken from say, falling off of a building that was being constructed. If the bot is destroyed, we just replace it, right?"

"Brilliant," Anya said. "But if they're designed for tough jobs, why is this one attempting to be our vallet?"

"First Minister Jinn said to send out a bot to escort you guys to the school, but I told her I'd do it myself. The bot is to make sure your truck doesn't get raided by Outsiders. You know, people who don't want to live with the COG. Their like Stranded only less assholey."

Anya covered James' ears, and Baird said, "Sorry, forgot the kid was with you. How are you James?"

"I don't want to go Uncle Baird," James said.

"Why not kid? This is a great school! I wish this school existed when I was your age!"

"I don't want to be away from Mommy and Daddy. I want to stay home with them."

"Sorry kid, but all kids need an education, even the kids of heroes. Now come on, let's get to the school."

Baird walked them through the city, and Anya remarked, "I can't believe how quickly this city was rebuilt. It took barely seven years."

"Well, the DeeBees sped up the process. Originally, this place wouldn't be ready for another two years, but the DeeBees sped up the building so that it was finished last year. By the way, we're here."

James stared at the building and gulped. The building was easily as big as the estate, if not bigger. "That's the main schoolhouse, and the dorms are out back," Baird said, showing them around.

Anya looked around the grassy area and said, "Where are the kids?"

"Not a lot of kids stay here during the summer. A few do, if they're wards of the state, but other than that, they mostly stay with their parents. Even some of the orphans just stay in the orphanage during the summer. Now here are the dorms."

Baird showed them a building that was bigger than the schoolhouse. "The school takes kids from ages six to eighteen, so that's why it's so huge. After eighteen, they can either join the military, go home, or go to New Ephyra college. Now, let's take a look inside the dorms."

There were twelve floors of the dorms, and Baird said, "Each floor is for an age group. They move dorms at the end of every school year, and keep moving up. Because this is James' first year here, he starts out on the first floor."

The halls were long and had at least twenty rooms in it. "Behind the dorms is the playground."

James perked up at the mention of a playground, and Baird chuckled at him. "You wanna see the playground kid?"

James nodded excitedly, and Baird led them out behind the dorms, where there were slides, monkey bars, and swings. "This area is mainly for the younger kids. Most kids stop coming here around age eleven. After eleven, it's a lot of studying."

James was about to get on the monkey bars when Marcus lifted him up. "But I wanted to play."

"You can play later on. Right now, Baird is still giving the tour."

"Actually, tour's over. Now, school starts next week, and parents usually drop their kids off one or two days in advance, so you guys have some options. He can stay with me and Sam, or he could go back to the estate for a few more days."

"Home!" James exclaimed.

"We'll go home after we visit with Cole and Sam," Anya said. "I haven't seen them in a while."

"Ready for school kiddo?" Baird asked James.

James nodded excitedly, and Marcus said, "Thanks for changing his mind."

**Originally, this chapter was going to have the first day of school in it, but that would have been way too long of a chapter, so I split it up into two parts.**


	8. First Day of School

**Sorry for not being able to get this out on Friday. I'm finally home now, which means that I should be able to get back to my usual Monday, Wednesday, Friday upload schedule.**

Three days later, James was dropped off at the school, and stood with the other kids, nervous. "We will be breaking up into groups," one of the teachers said. "Sort yourselves by age."

The kids and teenagers all sorted themselves out while James watched. He ran to the kids that looked the closest to his age and they all snickered at him. "You will be getting your room assignments later," one of the instructors said. "But first, you will be going to your classes. Come and get your schedules. Leave your bags there. Provided that they are labeled, a DeeBee will be sorting them out."

The children all got into line and received their schedules. James looked at his list and asked the girl standing next to him, "What does this say?"

The girl looked at him and asked, "You can't read? I've been able to read since I was three."

"So what does it say?"

"I'm not helping you." The girl then turned around and walked away.

"It says _Math_," said the boy next to James. "That's my first class too."

James looked at the boy and smiled. "Wanna go together?" he asked. The boy nodded and they headed off.

* * *

Once they were at the classroom, the teacher said, "Your desks have your names on then. Please go to your desk."

When James saw the only empty desk, he went to it. The desk was next to the boy who had helped him, and James smiled at the boy.

"I'm going to call your name," the teacher said, "and if you are here, say 'here' or 'present'. James Fenix?"

"Here," James said, raising his hand. The teacher's eyes widened and James could hear the other kids whispering.

"Settle down," the teacher commanded. "Are you James Fenix, son of Marcus Fenix?"

"And Anya Stroud," James replied.

"Very good. Now, Delmont Walker?"

"Present," the boy who had helped James, now named Delmont, answered.

As the teacher continued and started the lesson, James could hear all of the whispers from the children. He could feel that they were all staring at him, and when he glanced over at Delmont, even he was staring.

"Mister Fenix," the teacher said, snapping James back to reality. "Mister Fenix, can you answer this problem?"

James stared at the problem and said, "No Sir."

"If you can't solve the problem Mr. Fenix, then you should be listening instead of daydreaming. Now, can anyone else solve the problem?"

Delmont raised his hand and the teacher asked, "Mr. Walker?"

"The answer is six."

"Correct. Now everybody open your textbooks to page ten and copy down the problems."

* * *

After math was over, the six year olds had a fifteen minute break for recess. Delmont had been the first one out of the classroom, and James had ran after him. "Thanks for the help earlier," James told him.

"No problem," Delmont said, extending his hand. "My name's Del."

"My name is James."

"Isn't James a bit of a formal name? Do you have a nickname or something?"

"Everybody just calls me James."

"Well, you need a nickname. What about Jimmy?"

James and Del both thought of it and shook their heads no. "Do you have a middle name?" Del asked.

"My middle name is Dominic."

"James Dominic Fenix. James Dominic. How about JD?"

James thought about it and said, "I kind of like it."

A group of kids then walked up to them. "Hi there," one of the girls said, and JD recognized as the one who made fun of him. "Want to hang out with us?"

"Sure!" JD exclaimed. "Can Del join too?"

"Sorry, but no. Only popular kids hang out with us, and that kid's a weirdo."

JD looked at the group of popular kids and then back at Del. "No thanks, guys," JD said. "I'd rather hang out with my friend Del."

"But you're the son of a legend!" one of the boys exclaimed. "You're the son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud! You should be hanging out with the popular kids instead of this weird kid."

"Well this 'weird kid' happens to be my friend. And if you can't accept it, then I don't want to be friends with you guys."

"Whatever," the girl said, walking away.

When the kids were gone, Del looked at JD and said, "Thanks for standing up for me. Were you serious, though, that you want to be my friend?"

"Of course. You've been super nice to me all day, and that girl made fun of me."

The school bell rang and James showed Del his list. "What class is next?"

"Reading, same as me. In fact, we have the same schedule."

"Let's go."

* * *

After the school day was over, the director of the dorms said, "Alright, look at this list. Next to your name will be your roommate and your room number."

Del and JD got to the list and saw that they were sharing a room. "I think that school will be fun," Del said.

**Did not expect the chapter to be this long. Makes me glad I split it up into two different parts.**


	9. Winter Break Part 1

**Yep, you read that right. This chapter will be a two parter because of how long the story is.**

Around the time of Christmas, JD was ready to go back to the estate to enjoy his holidays, and Del accompanied him to where the parents picked up their kids. JD didn't have to look around for long, because he could easily spot his mother and father being pointed at by the other students.

"There's my family," JD said.

"Have a nice holiday," Del said, turning back to the school.

"Wait a minute, you aren't going home with your parents?"

"I don't have parents. I'm a ward of the state."

JD seemed shocked by this, and said, "But you can't stay at the school. Nobody else will be there."

"The orphanage said they'll only take me back for the summer, and that I'm spending my holidays here."

"Well, I don't think so."

JD then grabbed Del's arm and pulled him towards his parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my friend Del," JD said. "Can he stay with us for the holidays?"

"I don't have to, really," Del said, slightly embarrassed.

"What about his family James?" Anya asked.

"He's a ward of the state. So can he stay?"

"Do you want to stay with us?"

Del thought about the question for a minute and said, "It would be a lot better than staying at the school. My name's Del, as JD already said."

"JD?"

"James seemed a bit formal."

"Well, he's still James to us. My name's Anya."

"Pleasure," Del said, extending his arm. Anya shook his hand and smiled at how polite Del was.

"Marcus," Marcus said bluntly, extending his arm as well.

"Where do you live in the town Miss Stroud?" Del asked. "I haven't seen you guys around."

"Anya is fine, Del," Anya said. "And we don't live in town. We live in my family's estate."

"That's cool!"

"Let's go!" James exclaimed.

Anya and Marcus smiled and followed the two boys to the truck.

* * *

Once they all got home, Del looked around the estate. "This place is huge," he remarked in awe.

"It can very easy to get lost around here if you don't know your way," Anya said. "Tomorrow we're going to the woods to get a tree, so you boys better go to bed early."

"You guys get your Christmas tree from the woods?" Del asked.

"Yeah," JD said. "We get a better one every year."

"The orphanage always got the leftover trees from the tree yard. I've never seen a nice tree."

"And after, we decorate it!"

"The tree at the orphanage is never decorated. We just have a tree and are told to not touch it, but instead carefully put presents underneath it."

"At least you got presents, right?"

"We only got one, from our Secret Santas. And the presents weren't good because we were given ten dollars to spend. The best thing I got was a ball that I had to share with the others."

"Well, at least you got a gift from Santa."

"The heads of the orphanage said that Santa didn't stop by the orphanages because he didn't have the time."

"Well, Santa is sure to give you a gift here! Santa always gives me the best presents, and he's sure to give you some good ones too!"

Del smiled as JD led him to his bedroom. "This is my room," JD said.

"You could either stay here on in the guest room," Anya said, walking into the room crowded with toys.

"Can I stay with JD?"

"Sure. Now you two boys need to get to bed. I'll get Marcus to drag in a bed."

* * *

The next day, after the tree was selected, JD, Del and Marcus started putting ornaments on the tree. JD had an ornament that resembled the COG logo in his hand and put it near the bottom of the tree. "James," Marcus scolded. "You know that doesn't go there. The nicer ornaments go near the top, not the bottom. You shouldn't even have touched that one. Give it to me."

"But I wanna see it!" James exclaimed. "I can't see the nice ornaments because I'm too little! I want to see at least one of the nice ornaments!"

"James, I said give me the ornament!"

Marcus bent down to get the ornament, but JD grabbed it. "Give me the ornament James!"

"No!" JD exclaimed, holding his arm above his head.

Marcus reached for JD's hand and grabbed it, and JD grabbed his father's arm with his other hand.

They fought for the ornament until eventually, Marcus lost his grip on James. James pulled his arm away, but did it so quickly that the ornament flew out of his hand. It fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces. James stared at the pieces, and then looked back to Marcus.

Marcus had a very angry expression on his face, and pointed to the hallway. "Go to your room," he said angrily.

"But what about baking cookies?!" JD exclaimed.

"Now!"

JD stared at his father and realized he wouldn't change his mind. JD turned around and ran to his room, slamming the door shut.

Del had witnessed the whole argument and stared at Marcus. "I think you should go help Anya with the cookies," Marcus said gruffly. Del quietly nodded his head and ran off, not wanting to anger Marcus.

**Part 1 was partially set up and partial story of what I wanted to tell. But this chapter makes me wonder, do the people of Sera celebrate Christmas? Because they have churches, as shown in the games, so they do have religion, but their calendars work differently than ours, with theirs only having 11 months and more days of the year. But, let's just assume that Christmas is a thing in the **_**Gears of War **_**world**


	10. Winter Break Part 2

JD was sitting in his room, sobbing, when he heard someone knocking on the door. He sniffled and wiped his tears before yelling, "Go away!"

"It's me!" Del yelled through the door. JD got out of his bed and opened the door for Del, and Del handed him a cookie. "Your mom told me to sneak you one up," he said, smiling.

"Thanks Del," JD said, biting into the cookie.

Once the cookie was finished, Del and JD sat awkwardly for a minute, and JD broke the silence by saying, "I just wanted to see a single nice ornament! And then he yelled at me and sent me to my room! It's not my fault he made me break it!"

"Sorry JD," Del said.

"It's not your fault my dad's mean."

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, Anya was helping Marcus sweep up the remains of the ornament. "I can't believe that kid," Marcus said angrily. "Destroying our ornament. And I liked that one too!"

"Marcus, tomorrow's Christmas. And it was an accident. Can't you just forgive him? He is only a kid."

"But he's my kid, and that's what scares me. You know that I did some reckless things back in the day, and I'm afraid he'll fall into his father's footsteps. I just don't want him to get into trouble without me there to protect him."

"But you just said why he'll be okay. He's our kid. He's the kid of a man who saved the entire planet from being overrun by Locust and Lambent monsters. He'll be okay, because even if he does get into trouble, he's his father's son, and he'll be okay."

"But he's also his mother's son. He'll be careful and not rush into action, I hope. He'll want to have a plan and be careful instead of rushing into things head first like I did, and do."

"Exactly. He'll be okay."

"Yeah. But he's still in trouble. He's gonna stay in his room for the rest of the night, but tomorrow will be a different story."

* * *

The next day, JD woke up and saw that his window was covered in frost. He brushed off the window and saw that the estate was covered in…"Snow!" JD exclaimed. "Snow on Christmas!"

Del jumped out of bed due to JD's shouting. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's snowing!" JD exclaimed to Del. "It's snowing on Christmas! Let's see what Santa brought us!"

Del smiled as both of the boys ran into the main room. Del gasped when he saw the pile of presents underneath the tree, and JD said, "Lots of stuff this year! Stay here Del. I'm gonna go wake up my parents."

JD then ran to the room Anya and Marcus shared and opened the door. He saw that they were still sleeping, so he ran to the bed and jumped on it. "Wake up!" he yelled. "Wake up! It's Christmas!"

Marcus groaned as he was forcefully woken up by his six year old son. He sat up in bed and said, "James, give your mom and me at least one more hour."

"But it's Christmas! I want to open presents with Del! Hurry up!"

Anya rolled over and smiled at Marcus. "We should get up," she told him sleepily. She then sat up and Marcus did the same.

* * *

Once the couple was in the living room, they saw JD and Del digging through the pile of presents. "Finally!" JD exclaimed. "Let's get started!"

Anya smiled as JD grabbed a present with his name on it. He opened it and saw a toy Lancer. "Neat!" he exclaimed.

"Who's it from?" Marcus asked

"Uncle Baird!"

"Del, why don't you open a present next?" Anya asked him.

Del pulled out a present and said, "I can't believe I got a present."

Del opened it and saw a toy Gnasher. "Sweet!" he said, firing a fake bullet at JD. A plastic ball launched out of the toy and hit JD in the chest.

"Hey!" JD exclaimed, firing several felt bullets at Del.

"Alright, break it up you two," Marcus said, pulling the boys away from each other.

"Why don't you two finish your presents so that we can go in the snow?" Anya asked.

JD and Del smiled at each other, then immediately went back into the pile of presents.

* * *

After the presents were all opened, JD and Del dressed into winter clothes and ran outside into the snow. They got into a huge snowball fight before Marcus came outside. Del stopped throwing snowballs at JD, but JD turned and threw one as hard as he could, hitting Marcus square in the forehead.

Marcus advanced towards them and Del ran away, afraid of what the massive Gear could do. Marcus walked up to JD, who smiled guiltily. Marcus said nothing, but instead picked up JD and dropped him in a massive snow pile.

JD got up and yelled, "Kids versus adults!"

Marcus looked at his son, then grabbed a giant snowball and nailed JD in the chest with it. While he did that, Del grabbed snowballs and started rapid firing at Marcus as fast as he could.

Marcus turned around and threw a snowball at Del, who immediately ducked. At that moment, Anya came out of the house and the snowball meant for Del hit Anya in the cheek.

Del and JD gasped as Anya wiped the snow from her face. She then walked towards Marcus and threw a giant snowball at him, knocking him to the ground. JD saw his chance and jumped on Marcus, and Del jumped next to him.

Anya stood over the whole scene until Marcus grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground with him. They all laughed as Anya said, "Merry Christmas you guys."

**And there is the Winter Break finale. I know it's not exactly in the season for this type of story, but oh well. My story, my rules.**


	11. Graduation

**Hooray, another time skip! This one is a long one, and skyrockets us twelve years into the future, which would make JD and Del 18 years old now.**

"You ready for this?" Del asked, fixing his gown.

"As ready as I'll ever be," JD said, putting his graduation cap on. This day would be the day that JD and Del graduated boarding school. "Got your speech?" JD asked Del.

"Yep. Right here." Del then tapped the pocket of the pants he was wearing under the gown. "I still can't believe I'm valedictorian," Del remarked.

"Of course you are. You're the smartest person in the entire school. You could even outsmart most of the teachers. Now come on. We got to get to our spots."

* * *

After the graduation ceremony, Marcus and Anya met up with JD and Del. Anya hugged her son and said, "Great job you two." She finished with two coughs, and Marcus looked at her concernedly.

Anya waved him off, so Marcus said to Del, "Great speech Del. Good job."

"Thanks Marcus," Del said. JD looked his dad, waiting for a compliment, but Marcus remained silent.

Anya broke the awkward silence by saying, "Why don't we go to the banquet to get some food?"

"Sounds good," Del said.

"And afterwards, we can go back to the estate."

"By the way Del," Marcus said. "I want you to take this. I don't need it now."

Marcus handed Del a piece of black fabric, and Del unfolded it to see that it was Marcus' old do rag. "You sure?" Del asked.

"Absolutely."

* * *

The next morning, JD and Del were eating breakfast with Anya and Marcus. The silence had become very awkward, so Anya broke it by asking, "So, what are you boys going to do now that you're done with school?"

Del looked at JD and nodded, and JD said, "We're going to join the COG military."

"Like hell you are!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Marcus," Anya warned.

"Why don't you think we should join the military?" James asked, raising his voice.

"JD," Del said cautiously.

"You know damn well why you shouldn't join them," Marcus said. "Ever since the end of the war, the COG's ideals have been getting further and further away from what's right, and you shouldn't be apart of it."

"I don't care what you think," JD said. "It's my life and I'll live how I want!"

"As long as you live under this roof, you are never going to join the COG!"

"Then maybe I'll just leave!" JD yelled, shoving the table.

Anya watched as her son stormed off to his room, then looked at Marcus. "I'll go talk to him," Anya said, leaving the table.

* * *

JD heard a knock on his bedroom door and shouted, "Go away Del!"

"It's me James," Anya said, opening the door.

"I'm not apologizing," JD told her. "Del and I both want to join the COG's military, and Dad can't stop me, no matter how much he wants to try."

"I wasn't going to try to convince you otherwise. I just wanted to talk."

JD looked at his mother for a minute, and then he patted the spot on the bed next to him. Anya coughed a few times, and she looked at JD. "There's something I need to tell you."

Anya to a deep breath and coughed two more times before saying, "I'm sick. Really sick."

JD sat up and looked at his mother. He had nothing to say for a minute, and then he finally asked, "Does Dad know?"

"Of course your father knows James. He normally won't let me out of his sight now."

"That would explain what's happening to your hair." JD then gestured to Anya's hair, which was much more thin than it had been last time he had seen her during the winter.

Anya nodded, and then she took a deep breath again. "James, I'm not sure how much longer I have left, and I wanted to tell you something in case you don't see me again."

"What is it?"

"I want you and your father to get along more. I know you two butt heads a lot, but deep down, I know you love him, and I know he loves you. I just want you two to agree more and stop fighting. Please."

"I don't try to get into fights with him, but he always has to be against whatever I want to do."

"He justs wants you to be safe James. He means well, but you know that your dad is a very stubborn man, just like you."

JD smiled, but then he said, "I'm still joining the COG, whether he wants me to or not."

"Why do you want to do this so bad?"

JD looked at his mother, and sighed as he said, "Because of who I am. Every time somebody talks about me, they always talk about 'the son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud'. I'm tired of it. I don't just want to be known as the son of two legends. I want to be known as my own person. I want to be like you guys and defend the planet Sera. I want to be known as JD Fenix, not just the son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud."

JD looked at Anya and saw that she was tearing up, and Anya wiped her tears on the sleeve of her yellow dress. "Thank you for telling me James. Maybe if you tell your father that, he'll understand. He just doesn't want you to join because of how the COG's vision of what is right has been very corrupted over the years."

"I know that's what he thinks, but living with the COG has shown me that their ideals aren't that far from what they were back during the war. I want to do this."

The door of the bedroom creaked and JD and Anya saw Marcus walk into the room. He sat down in a chair across from the bed, and looked at JD. "You are not joining the COG," he said to James.

"Yes I am Dad. This is my decision, and even Del agreed to join me. I'm doing this, with or without your approval."

"Without. I refuse to support this decision. The COG has lost its vision over the years, and I don't want you to be a part of it."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew my reasoning!"

"I don't give a crap about your reason! It's a stupid idea and it's going to get you in a lot of trouble that I won't be able to bail you out of!"

"I don't need your help! I'm not just your son! I'm my own person and this is my decision!"

"Then you aren't my son anymore."

Anya and JD both gasped at this statement, and Anya said, "Marcus, we should go."

* * *

That night, JD was hastily shoving all of his belongings into a bag. "Are you sure about this?" Del asked.

"Absolutely! He disowned me! I don't need to be here anymore! Let's go!"

JD then opened his window and jumped out of it. Del jumped behind him and they ran off into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Anya knocked on the door to JD's room. "James?" she asked. "Can I come in?"

When there was no answer, she opened the door and gasped. "Marcus!" she yelled.

Marcus immediately ran to her side and asked, "What happened? Are you alright?"

Anya said nothing but instead pointed to JD and Del's empty beds. She started to sob as Marcus grabbed a piece of paper from JD's bed. "What are we going to do?" Anya asked.

"Nothing. I'm done helping him. I tried to stop him, and you did too. I'm done with James."

Anya continued to sob, and Marcus hugged her as she cried into his chest.

**And that is how JD and Del joined the COG, at least in my opinion. **


	12. Parting Ways

**Sorry for not being able to publish last week, I was really busy pretty much every day. I promise that updates will be more regular from now on.**

Almost one year later, all of the former Delta Squad was gathered at the Fenix estate. Anya had become bedridden and had asked the former Gears to be with Marcus during this time.

Marcus was sitting by Anya's bed, like he always was, when Baird walked into the room. "He's doing good," Baird said. "Already a sergeant after one year."

Out of courtesy for Anya, Baird had decided to watch JD and Del as they were in the COG military.

Anya smiled at him and said, "Thank you Baird."

He smiled and then left, and Marcus was left alone with his love. She coughed a few times, and Marcus helped her sit up. A couple of tears fell from Marcus' eyes, and he quickly rubbed his eyes.

Anya saw Marcus wipe his eyes, and she said weakly, "I'm sorry Marcus."

Marcus looked at her and asked, "Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't finish our tomorrow."

"Don't talk like that Anya. You're going to be alright."

Anya coughed a few more times, and she said, "No, I'm not. I love you so much Marcus. Please look out for James. I know you two love each other. Please."

Marcus started tearing up again, and he said, "I love you so much Anya. Please don't go."

Anya smiled at him and coughed more violently, causing blood to come from her mouth. She held out her small hands and Marcus put his big hands around them. "I love you Marcus," she said.

She closed her eyes and her hands fell limp in Marcus' grasp. Her chest stopped moving and her breathing stopped completely. Marcus looked at her body and started to sob.

The other members of Delta Squad came into the room and saw Marcus sobbing over Anya's body and looked down in mourning. Sam walked up to Marcus cautiously and put her arm around him. "I'm sorry Marcus," Sam said quietly as Marcus continued sobbing.

"Everyone I love leaves me," Marcus said between sobs. "Why can't I just have a happy, normal life?"

"Because we don't get normal lives," Baird said.

"Damon," Cole warned.

"No, no, no," Baird said, walking up to Marcus. "We can never have normal lives Marcus. Did you expect that after the war you would just be able to hang up your armor and have a happy life with your kid? We all lost things before, during, and after the war. Some of us more than others."

Baird looked at Carmine, Sam, and Cole. "But that doesn't mean we just give up," he continued. "We keep going on. I'm sorry about Anya, Marcus, we all are, but just because she's gone doesn't mean your life is over. You still have your son, and he's doing great. I suggest you reconcile with him. It's what Anya would have wanted."

Marcus let go of Anya's hands and opened his. He had felt her give him something, and now he saw what.

In Marcus' hands were Anya's COG tags, with her full ID number and name still on them.

**I needed a box of tissues to type this chapter, but it had to be done. In **_**Gears of War 4**_**, Anya is dead, and I felt that glossing over that fact would have ruined the story. But jeez, the feels man.**


	13. Services

The next day, a younger Gear ran up to JD and Del, who were sitting with each other in the mess hall. "Sergeant Fenix and Sergeant Walker?" the Gear asked.

"What is it Cadet?" JD asked him.

"First Minister Jinn wants to see both of you. She says it's important."

JD and Del both looked at each other and then JD said, "Thank you Cadet."

They both walked to First Minister Jinn's office and Del opened the door. "You wanted to see us First Minister?" he asked.

"I did Sergeant," Jinn said in a grave voice. "Why don't you two have a seat?"

JD and Del sat down, and JD asked, "What is this about?"

"It's about Lieutenant Stroud."

JD gasped quickly, and Jinn said, "I am very sorry Sergeant Fenix. Your mother passed away yesterday."

JD sobbed under his breath, and Del muttered, "Oh God," while he sobbed too.

"Sergeant Fenix, your father has informed me that the service will be in two weeks. I am granting you a leave until the service is over so that you can grieve."

Jinn then looked at Del and said, "Sergeant Walker, I was informed you are very close to the Fenix family as well. You will have time off along with Sergeant Fenix."

Del nodded, still sobbing quietly. "I will have someone escort you two to the Stroud estate if you please," Jinn said.

"I don't think that will be necessary," JD said, rubbing his eyes. "We just need a car."

* * *

After a few hours of driving, Del and JD arrived at the estate. Marcus saw the car approaching and walked outside. Del saw him and hugged Marcus, who hugged him back.

Marcus then looked at JD and held out his hand. JD shook it and walked into the house. "I'm so sorry Marcus," Del said.

Marcus sighed and said, "Yeah, I am too. Thanks for coming Del."

"She was practically family. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

The two stood there awkwardly for a minute, and then Del said, "You know JD and I are already Sergeants?"

Marcus nodded and Del added, "JD misses her too. You know that, right?"

Marcus sighed and said, "Why don't we head inside?"

* * *

Two weeks later, the Fenix estate was crowded with more people than it had been in over forty years.

Marcus was dressed in formal clothing and was greeting people as they walked in. Bernadette Mataki walked in and wheeled in Colonel Hoffman.

Bernadette shook Marcus' hand and hugged him. "I'm sorry Marcus," she said solemnly.

Marcus accepted the hug and said, "Thanks Bernie."

Hoffman heels out his hand and said, "Sergeant."

"Colonel," Marcus replied, shaking the old man's hand.

"You doing alright Fenix?"

Marcus sighed and said, "Not really, no."

"I know how you feel. I felt the same thing when I lost Margaret. It'll get better, though. Trust me."

"Thanks Hoffman. Thank you two for coming."

* * *

Once the ceremony had started, JD, Del, and Marcus all sat together in the front row, with Del sitting between the two Fenix men.

Marcus got up from his seat and walked up to the podium when it was his time to speak. "Anya Stroud was more than the love of my life. She was my world. She was the one who opened up my heart after the war, who showed me that people dying around you doesn't mean you stop living.

"But now that she's gone, I need to learn that lesson again because ever since she died, I've felt like nothing matters. I will never forget Anya and I will never leave her for another."

"Thank you Marcus," the priest said. "We will now hear from Anya's son James."

JD got up and walked to the podium. He took a deep breath and said, "My mother was a kind sweet, loving, and intelligent person until she died. She loved me and my dad more than anything, and I will always miss her. She even took in my best friend Del when she found out he was an orphan. My mother will always live in my heart."

The ceremony continued, and Del whispered to JD and Marcus, "You two had great speeches."

"Thanks Del," Marcus said.

JD looked at his father and said, "I'm sorry Dad."

"Me too James," Marcus said sadly. "Me too."

**Another pretty sad chapter. Not sure if it was as sad as the last one, but it still was pretty sad. **


	14. A Place to Hide

Three and a half years later, Marcus sat in the smaller house rather than the main house. He hadn't lived in the main house since his love passed away, and he refused to still.

He visited Anya every morning, which was easy because she was buried outside of the smaller house.

He took a sip of his beer and watched as the door to the house opened. He hadn't had visitors in over one year, as he had practically cut himself off from everyone.

Marcus was even more surprised when he find out who had opened the door. Standing in the doorway of the small house was Del and JD, still wearing their COG armor. "James?" Marcus questioned.

"Dad, we need your advice," JD said.

"About what?"

JD looked at Del, and Del sighed. "We want to leave the COG," Del said.

"Absolutely not! The COG will hunt you down and kill you if you even think of leaving them! What the hell is wrong with you, James?!"

"It wasn't my idea!" James yelled. "It was Del's!"

"Why?!"

"There was an incident," Del said. "Something bad happened. We see what you meant about the COG standards. We want to leave."

"What happened exactly?"

"We're not allowed to say," JD said. "We can only say something went really bad and we don't want to be part of the COG anymore."

"Where do you two think you're going to run off to anyway? You know you damn well can't just leave. Jinn will have your heads. You'll need to hide."

"We were hoping to hide here," JD said.

"Like hell you are! This is the first place the COG will come looking for you!"

"Dad, we just need a place to hide."

"Well wherever you hide, it won't be here!"

"What about what Mom would have wanted?!"

Marcus fell dead silent, and JD saw he had his chance. "One of Mom's last wishes to me was to make up with you. If you gave us a place to hide, maybe I could."

"No! You are not hiding here! You shouldn't even be leaving the COG!"

JD then threw his armor onto the ground and said, "Thank you for honoring Mom's last wishes," he said as he slammed the door shut.

Del looked at Marcus and said, "This place always felt like home to me. I'm sorry it couldn't be when I needed it most."

Del took off his armor too and walked out of the small house.

Marcus sighed and watched as the two walked away from the estate. He looked in the direction where Anya was buried and said, "I'm sorry."

* * *

JD and Del walked for what felt like days until they were passed by a carriage. The carriage was pulled by a strange horse-like creature that had two horns on his muzzle. "You two look lost," the man driving the cart said. "Need a lift?"

"Are you guys Outsiders?" Del asked.

"Sure are. Do you guys need a ride or not?"

JD and Del looked at each other, and JD said, "It would be a good place to hide."

"Hop in young ones!"

The man grabbed the reins attached to the horse and yelled, "Hyah!"

**Try to guess the mystery driver.**


	15. Outsiders

The carriage pulling JD, Del and the man came to a stop in a small village.

A woman with a head of brown hair tied back in a braid walked up to the cart and asked, "Did you find something Oscar?"

"Not so much a 'some_thing_' as a 'some_one_'," the man, who was now named Oscar, replied.

The woman then noticed JD and Del and asked, "Who are you two?"

"My name is JD," JD said. "And this is Del."

"Are you COG?"

"No Ma'am we aren't," Del said. "Is this an Outsider village?"

"I'll be asking the questions. Why are you here?"

"We used to be with the COG," JD said.

"Yeah, but then something went really bad," Del continued. "I wanted to leave, and JD came with me. The COG made us enemies of the state, and we need a place to hide."

The woman looked at them and asked, "Can you fight?"

"We were COG soldiers," JD said. "So yes, we can fight."

"Mom, is Uncle back yet?" a girl called out from behind the woman. The girl then saw the cart and JD became utterly speechless. The girl looked around the same age as Del and JD and had black bangs and long hair tied back by a piece of brown cloth. The part of hair that could be seen after the cloth was pink. The rest of her hair was concealed under a beanie.

JD looked at the girl and became completely unable to speak, and became completely zoned out. "Hello?" the girl asked.

JD shook his head and asked, "Huh?"

"I said, my name's Kait. This is my mom, Reyna, and you've obviously met my uncle Oscar. What about you two?"

JD went speechless again, and Del elbowed him in the shoulder. "Uh, my name's James, but people call me JD," JD said. "And this is my friend Del."

"What are you two doing here anyways?"

"We ran away from the COG," Del said. "Something went wrong. We don't want to be with them anymore."

"But we're not like COG spies or anything!" JD said nervously.

Kait looked at him unsurely and asked Reyna, "Are you going to let them stay?"

Reyna thought about the question for a minute and said, "No. It's too risky. For all we know, they are COG spies and are here to kill us. Sorry boys."

JD and Del looked at each other and Del said, "Please Ma'am. We are not COG spies. We want to get away from the COG. We have nowhere else to go. Please?"

"Sorry you two. I just don't trust you two."

A boy around seven years younger than Del and JD ran up to Reyna and asked, "Are we still raiding Settlement Four today, Ma'am?"

"You guys are planning to raid a COG Settlement?" JD asked.

"And what if we are smart guy?" Oscar asked.

"You guys should stop raiding the Settlements. I'm not kidding. Jinn is absolutely furious about these raids, and she's willing to take action if they continue."

Reyna looked at JD, then back at the boy. "Are we still on Ma'am?" the boy asked.

"No we're not William," Reyna responded. "In fact, I want you and the others to warn the other villages the same thing. Got it?"

"Yes Ma'am," William responded, running away.

Reyna looked at Del and JD and said, "Thank you for the advice."

"No problem," JD said, taking one last look at Kait. "We'll be on our way now."

As JD and Del turned to walk away, Kait called out, "Wait!"

"What are you doing?" Reyna asked her.

"Mom, if they really were COG spies, they would have let us raid the Settlement, told Jinn, and then had us all killed. They just saved us. I think we can trust them."

Reyna looked at Del and JD and grabbed JD by the collar of his shirt. "Don't make me regret taking you in," she told him roughly.

JD and Del stood still, and Kait said, "Come on you two. I'll give you a tour of the village."

JD smiled and immediately ran after her, making Del chuckle.

**And that is how JD and Del go to the Outsider village. I think there will be only one more chapter in this story, and the reasoning will be explained later.**


	16. The Prodigal Son

**Alright, final chapter! I believed I filled in all of the plot holes I needed to, so I don't think it'll be necessary to continue this story. But I absolutely refuse to just abandon this story entirely, so this will be the concluding chapter.**

Another six months later, Marcus woke up in the small house like he did every morning. He looked at the picture of Anya and an eight year old JD and sighed. Marcus got out of bed and dressed in a simple green shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He tied the laces of his brown boots and slipped on his brown fingerless gloves.

Marcus grabbed a piece of paper on the counter and as he read it, sighed. The letter read, _Dear Dad, Del and I are leaving to join the COG. I know you don't want this, but we need to do this. I'm not the son of Marcus Fenix anymore. I'm my own man._

_-JD _

Marcus walked outside and through a gate about twenty feet away from the door to the small house and pushed it open. He bent down and brushed leaves off the flat gravestone and sighed. He sat on the bench next to the gravestone and thought to himself for about twenty minutes.

Once he was done, he bent down and looked at the potted flower next to the gate, a white xiphium. He had placed it outside of the very small cemetery after Anya had died, because these were her favorite flowers.

Marcus sighed as he walked away from Anya's grave and across the estate. He walked to the greenhouse and grabbed a small trowel. He looked at his planted tomatoes and smiled. "I'll pick these tomorrow," he said to himself.

Once he was done looking at his plants, Marcus walked over to his truck, which he hadn't used in over three years. He bent down and began to work on it.

* * *

By the time the sun had set and the two moons of Sera had come up, Marcus had finished fixing his car and making sure his security cameras still worked. He went into the small fridge he had in the small house and pulled out a bottle of beer.

He poured the beer into a metal mug and sat down in his chair. The one thing he still had from the main house was his chair, which he had dragged out to the small house. As Marcus took a sip of his beer, his security cameras beeped.

Marcus looked at the monitor and coughed as he choked on his beer. He saw JD and Del riding horses up to the estate with a girl he had never seen before. He watched them ride up to the stables, and the girl looked at the main house. "You said he'd be home," the girl said to JD.

"He's home," JD said somewhat exasperatedly. "He's always home."

"That house looks abandoned," the girl said, gesturing to the main house.

_Of course it does,_ Marcus thought to himself. _Hasn't been used in over three years._

"'Cause that's not where he lives," JD told the girl. "Follow me."

JD left Del and the girl and started walking towards the small house, and Marcus groaned. He watched as Del told the girl, "He gets like that sometimes. You're about to find out why."

"Terrific," the girl said sarcastically.

Marcus continued to watch as JD, Del, and the girl made their way from the stables to the smaller house, conversing amongst themselves. As they continued to walk, Marcus wondered why this girl wasn't amazed to be standing on the property of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud, but he shrugged it off.

Marcus expected the group to immediately go to the small house, but was surprised when he saw JD take a turn. He watched as JD pushed the door to the cemetery open and Del and the girl followed him inside. Marcus didn't have a camera in the cemetery out of respect for Anya, so he couldn't see what they were doing.

He saw that, after a minute, JD, Del and the girl all came out of the cemetery, and Del asked JD, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," JD said bluntly. "Come on, let's get inside."

As they continued towards the small house, the girl asked, "So how was he able to get permission to live outside a settlement?"

"Easy," Del said. "Who was going to tell him no?"

Marcus then realized that the girl may have no idea who he or his son were, and he pondered that possibility as the door swung open. Marcus sat up and stared as JD pushed the door open. He looked directly at James and said only one thing.

"Welcome home, James."

THE END

**And with that, this story is now complete! I really enjoyed writing this story and actually put my other story ideas on hold because of how much I wanted to write this one. I'm sad that it's done, but there was nothing else left to explain.**


	17. Bonus Chapter: Taken

**Okay, I know I said that this story was done, but I lied. This is the last chapter, I swear. This idea came to me as I finished the last chapter, and I thought it would make a good bonus chapter.**

Marcus had told them all that the historical site _Fort Reval_ might have the answers they were looking for on the Swarm. He had been partially right.

Right when they got there, Marcus had felt something was off. The roofs of the buildings had been shifting quite a bit, as if something was jumping roof to roof. After about ten minutes, Marcus couldn't stand it and motioned for the others to duck while saying, "Get down."

He looked up from the cover they were under and saw a creature with a glowing red stomach. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he knew it wasn't good. "That thing's been following us since we got here," he told the group. "I'm gonna flush it out."

"What?" the girl, who Marcus learned was named Kait, questioned. "How?"

Rather than respond, Marcus held up a grenade, to which Kait replied, "Yeah. That works."

"When it bolts, take it out," Marcus instructed. "Got it?"

"Got it," JD replied while they all nodded their heads. Marcus got out of cover and started to swing his grenade around when he heard the other building to the side of him shift too. He saw another one of those monsters as it snarled and launched a quill at him.

The impact from the quill knocked Marcus down and caused him to accidentally throw the grenade in the direction of JD, Del and Kait. JD yelled, "Dad!" just as the grenade hit the ground and caused them to fall back.

Marcus attempted to crawl to them, but realized that that was pointless as the creature moved towards him. It's stomach opened up and tentacles came out and grabbed Marcus, strangling him as JD yelled, "No!"

The stomach closed up and the creature snarled, taking Marcus away from JD, Kait, and Del.

* * *

Marcus laid motionless inside of the creature's stomach as it carried him far away from the group. He wondered when they would stop, but the creature continued on for what felt like hours.

When the creature finally stopped moving, it spun Marcus into a pod similar to the one that JD had cut open earlier. Marcus couldn't move inside of his pod, but he started to hear voices. "Help me!" the voice of a young child yelled.

"Save me!" another kid yelled.

"What's happening?!" a grown man shouted.

Marcus then suddenly passed out and all of the voices stopped. He opened his eyes and saw through the eyes of a giant creature. Marcus recognized it as an original Locust and quickly gasped. He saw other creatures like him, breaking out of the crystal shells that had developed around the dead Locust bodies.

The creatures were grabbing big guns, including guns that Marcus had never seen before. He watched as these creatures grabbed the guns and headed out of wherever they were, and the creature Marcus could see through thought _Scion_.

"What do we do with her?" another Scion asked in Tyran language, holding up a woman that Marcus quickly gathered was Kait's mother. Marcus wondered how this creature could speak Tyran, but he quickly dismissed it.

"Don't pod her," the Scion Marcus could see through said. "Take her to the other burial site. She needs special treatment."

* * *

Marcus suddenly woke up and saw the shell of his pod again. The voices had stopped and Marcus knew that the people in those pods didn't make it. He coughed a few times, finding it hard to breath. His vision blurred and then everything became white.

Marcus blinked a few times and then realized something incredible. He could move.

Marcus got up and looked at the blinding light in front of him and gasped in happiness.

In front of Marcus was Anya, who was wearing the same yellow dress she had worn over fifteen years ago in the picture of her and JD.

Marcus walked towards her, tears in his eyes, and gladly embraced the woman he loved. "It's okay Marcus," she said as he stroked her hair. "I'm here now. You're alright."

Marcus sobbed quietly as Anya hugged him back. "What happened?" Marcus said.

"That creature, it ended you Marcus."

Marcus looked at his pod and gasped as he saw JD, Del and Kait all running towards it. JD sawed it open and started to yell when he realized that Marcus had left.

Anya looked at Marcus and told him, "You need to go back. He needs you."

"But I don't want to leave you," Marcus said.

"I'll always be here Marcus. I promise. Now go and help our son."

Marcus sighed as he hugged Anya one last time. He turned and walked away from her, but couldn't resist looking one last time. He looked back and saw her smiling and waving at him.

Marcus sighed one last time and walked away. He felt his chest was clogged with liquid, so when he attempted to breath, the only thing that came up was the liquid. He heard JD yell, "Help me get his armour off!"

Marcus felt JD place a hand on his armor, so he grabbed JD's hand and used it to roll over. He retched a few times to get the liquid out of his system, and JD was patting him on the back.

"You're okay, Dad," JD said. "We got you."

THE END

**Okay, I swear that this is the last chapter in the story. I do believe, though, that for a brief second or two when JD and the others cut Marcus out of that pod that he did in fact die, but he came back for some reason, and that reason is now explained. Thank you very much for reading this fanfiction, and you may now look away.**


End file.
